Anastasia Rudnitskaya: ‘700,000 Students Have No Access to Remote Learning’
On 29 May UNESCO Chair ‘Societal, Legal and Ethical Frameworking of Knowledge Societies’ held an open online lecture. The topic of the lecture was ‘Digital Volunteering Profile and Distance-Learning Technologies: Risks and Opportunities’.
The lecture was delivered by Anastasia Rudnitskaya, Associate Professor, PhD in Political Science, Deputy Director of the Federal Training Centre for Volunteering Support and Development. It was moderated by Farhad Ibragimov, researcher at the State University of Management UNESCO Chair, expert of the Valdai Discussion Club.
During the lecture Rudnitskaya devoted particular attention to the specifics of legal support for volunteering in Russia. This is exemplified in the targets and indicators of the ‘Education’ and ‘Digital Economy’ national projects.
Rudnitskaya also shared the key features of the ‘Social Activity’ federal project with the students. The goal of the project is to create the conditions for forming and fulfilling the need to volunteer among Russian citizens and to increase engagement in volunteering. The project forecasts that the number of students involved in the activities of volunteer organisations will rise to 8.8 million nationally by 2024, with 20% of the population engaged in volunteering.
The lecture paid special attention to issues related to the forced transition of schools and universities to remote learning. In some regions, these issues were caused by technical and financial barriers. For example, families with several children or those living in rural areas face a range of issues related to limited access to equipment and the internet in remote locations. Experts estimate that around 700,000 students are unable to take part in remote learning.
Another obstacle is the lack of widespread and secure Russian platforms to ensure the quality of remote learning. Almost all educational institutions must decide individually which foreign platforms suit their needs best in order to deliver high-quality educational content. These include ZOOM, Skype, MS Teams, Moodle, Webinar, Trueconf, Mirapolis etc.
By using foreign platforms, educational institutions run the risk of leaking confidential information and breaching copyright as well as facing issues in ensuring digital and data security.
Rudnitskaya also discussed some positive achievements in the organisation of digital communication. A student’s portfolio is more than just a document containing information about their academic progress and social activities. It also covers their volunteering experience. Combining student portfolios with digital volunteer cards provides students with better employment prospects and cooperation with potential employers. The institutionalisation and professionalisation of volunteering are the basis of the events conducted under Russia’s state youth policy.
Versatile volunteering opportunities allow representatives from all social groups to become involved in developing civic institutes and supporting the voluntary sector and social non-profit organisations.
The SUM UNESCO Chair previously launched the Digital Volunteers online educational platform. Digital Volunteers is an open platform that offers online courses in various fields, from psychology to economics, and arranges internships and grant competitions. While part of the project’s launch content is prepared by SUM professors, anyone can contribute to the education of others on a voluntary basis, thus increasing their own ‘mutual assistance index’.
The ‘mutual assistance index’ is an important part of the
project. The idea behind it is that any user can grow personally and help others grow
by gaining new skills and expanding their knowledge.
The methodology of the ‘mutual assistance index’ is developed by the young scientists at the State University of Management.
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Дата публикации: 1.06.2020